[Albion] Talkshite have us down as finishing bottom

[b.w.2.]

This is from Foxestalk - and their first manager to be sacked thread. I think it sums up quite nicely our position in the hearts and minds of pundits and other fans...

I genuinely didn't know until now that Brighton had shifted Hughton and brought in someone else. Potter is it? Honestly, I think it speaks volumes of how anonymous BHA actually are that I have literally no idea what preparations they've made this year. The other 19, I have done, but for the Seagulls, honestly I almost forgot they were even an EPL team. Hell, I've heard more about Huddersfield's prep for their return to the second tier this summer than I have about goings on at the Amex.

They were massively treading water last year and there's no reason to suggest they won't be in and amongst the sh*t this time out either. I go for whoever Potter is.

Well, that sh1t should be put up in the dressing room before we play Leicester...


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[schmunk]

I wonder how many times the team finishing 4th from bottom have been relegated the following season.

In recent history:

13/14: West Brom - 13th in following season
14/15: Villa - 20th (relegated)
15/16: Sunderland - 20th (relegated)
16/17: Watford - 14th
17/18: Southampton - 16th

 

[Lady Whistledown]

Do people really get affronted by these predictions??

Our finish to last season, coupled with the fact we're still relatively new to this PL lark and have been in the bottom six or seven both times means we will always, always be among the favourites. If I'm honest, I'd probably agree. Why wouldn't we be? It's not offensive to think that, it's just logic. Of course I hope we'll do better this time around, but I'm not stupid enough to think our first aim is anything other than staying up. But outsiders think we're relegation candidates for exactly the same reason they (and we) think teams like Sheffield United, Norwich, Burnley and Newcastle are.

I never wanted Hughton to go as such, but if he'd stayed, we'd have been favourites to go down, even amongst our own fan base. The fact we have a new manager and a bunch of new signings doesn't change our status in the eyes of most external observers to anything different.

Wouldn't it be lovely to go and prove them all wrong?

 

[The Optimist]

BBC web pages doing a similar lazy job:

Brighton and Hove Albion

Last season - 17th

This season - 18th

Brighton's dip in form that plunged them into trouble last season cost manager Chris Hughton his job and brought a new face and approach in the highly rated Graham Potter.

Leandro Trossard from Genk is part of the new look while heavy responsibility will fall on the shoulders of new central defender Adam Webster, signed from Bristol City in a club record £20m deal - especially if Lewis Dunk leaves.

Potter has many supporters and Brighton is a club to admire - but last season's decline must mean worries this time around if they do not make a good start.

That summary almost says 'Brighton had an issue (poor under Hughton in the 2nd half of last season), have remedied it (appointed Potter who is highly rated - so presumably good) but will do worse than last season'. That doesn't make sense to me.

 

[Billy the Fish]

https://www.theguardian.com/football/2019/aug/04/premier-league-2019-20-fans-verdicts-arsenal-liverpool

Read that just now and feel a bit like I've missed something...

I'm not feeling overly optimistic but do think we'll have an okay season and stay up fairly comfortably. Is everyone else seeing something obvious without the blue and white tinted spectacles?

It is clearly the strongest league that we've been a part of, but I think we're probably better than Newcastle, Sheffield United, Villa, Norwich and Palace providing Mr Tumble goes. If Leicester pay up for Tarkowski then Burnley are due a dud season surely and there is always a surprise misfire in there somewhere.

Brighton

It’s a case of fingers crossed. Much lies on the shoulders of Graham Potter after the heart-wrenchingly sad sacking of Chris Hughton. Potter will have to work his magic on what he inherited – who knows if he can do that? A lot of players need to step up (yes, you, Locadia, Jahanbakhsh, Andone) but maybe Potter is the man to lift them. Tony Bloom obviously thinks so, and that’s good enough for me.


Brighton break transfer record to sign Adam Webster from Bristol City

Key men/weak links

A lot will be expected of our new £15m winger Leandro Trossard, especially after the (welcome) exit of hotheaded Anthony Knockaert. Elsewhere, young Aaron Connolly could break through, and if Dunk goes, new signing Adam Webster will need to settle in fast. No weak links – although…

We need to sign A striker. Or are we going to be relying on Glenn Murray again? He’s 36 in September.

Headline maker

Hopefully Potter as the division’s most inspired managerial appointment. Our exciting, attacking play will be a joy to watch and give even Pep Guardiola food for thought, right?

VAR: good or bad?

It made Manchester City’s Champions League defeat by Spurs enormously entertaining for neutrals. But as the system is still based on an opinion, I don’t think it’s conclusive enough for all the fuss it causes.

Predictions… We will finish: 10th.
Top four: 1. Liverpool; 2. Man City; 3. Arsenal; 4. Tottenham.
Bottom three: 18. Crystal Palace; 19. Norwich; 20. Aston Villa.
First manager sacked: Ole Gunnar Solskjær.

• Steph Fincham Observer reader

Steph needs to lay off whatever she's drinking/smoking. I swear she also predicted top 10 last year. There's really no need to have a dig at one of our most popular players and who in their right mind thinks Arsenal are going to finish third!

 

[Tom Hark Preston Park]

Tho to be fair to Talkshite, that WAS before we signed a striker who broke the Albion mould by a) having a work permit to play in this country and b) seeming to know where the goal is in this country at a decent level.

Reasons To Be Cheerful shirley

 

[Beanstalk]

Brighton

It’s a case of fingers crossed. Much lies on the shoulders of Graham Potter after the heart-wrenchingly sad sacking of Chris Hughton. Potter will have to work his magic on what he inherited – who knows if he can do that? A lot of players need to step up (yes, you, Locadia, Jahanbakhsh, Andone) but maybe Potter is the man to lift them. Tony Bloom obviously thinks so, and that’s good enough for me.


Brighton break transfer record to sign Adam Webster from Bristol City

Key men/weak links

A lot will be expected of our new £15m winger Leandro Trossard, especially after the (welcome) exit of hotheaded Anthony Knockaert. Elsewhere, young Aaron Connolly could break through, and if Dunk goes, new signing Adam Webster will need to settle in fast. No weak links – although…

We need to sign A striker. Or are we going to be relying on Glenn Murray again? He’s 36 in September.

Headline maker

Hopefully Potter as the division’s most inspired managerial appointment. Our exciting, attacking play will be a joy to watch and give even Pep Guardiola food for thought, right?

VAR: good or bad?

It made Manchester City’s Champions League defeat by Spurs enormously entertaining for neutrals. But as the system is still based on an opinion, I don’t think it’s conclusive enough for all the fuss it causes.

Predictions… We will finish: 10th.
Top four: 1. Liverpool; 2. Man City; 3. Arsenal; 4. Tottenham.
Bottom three: 18. Crystal Palace; 19. Norwich; 20. Aston Villa.
First manager sacked: Ole Gunnar Solskjær.

• Steph Fincham Observer reader

Steph needs to lay off whatever she's drinking/smoking. I swear she also predicted top 10 last year. There's really no need to have a dig at one of our most popular players and who in their right mind thinks Arsenal are going to finish third!

18/19

Brighton
After an unbelievable summer in the transfer market another season in the Premier League is just so exciting with nine major signings. The battle with Leicester to land Jahanbakhsh, last season’s Eredivisie top scorer and our record signing, had the whole city on tenterhooks. Chris Hughton is just the manager to get the new players to gel.

Key men/weak links So many key players! Dunk and Duffy were monsters in defence last season and will surely be even stronger with our first Brazilian Bernado alongside them. Gröss will be a huge influence again with Stephens and Bissouma in a magical midfield. And we finally signed a top striker in Andone. A weak link? Southern Rail’s hopeless train service to the Amex.

Headline maker Our recruitment dept led by Paul Winstanley with the backing of Paul Barber and Tony Bloom – chairman, local hero and lifelong fan. They have done wonders this summer.

First-choice XI (4-4-2) Ryan; Schelotto, Dunk, Duffy, Bernardo; Bissouma, Stephens, Gröss, Izquierdo; Jahanbakhsh, Andone.

Predictions: We will finish: 9th. Top four: 1. Man City 2. Liverpool 3. Chelsea 4. Arsenal. Bottom three: 18. Crystal Palace 19. Watford 20. Cardiff Promoted: Aston Villa, West Brom and Brentford. First manager sacked: Mourinho (Man Utd). Steph Fincham, Observer reader

TBF she got the top two, but apart from that, pretty wide of the mark

 

[zefarelly]

Time will tell. My prediction 14h.

I did the BBC table thing and came up with the same.

We can do it.

 

[banjo]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/49250674

3 from 6

 

[Tooting Gull]

Seriously, no one should worry about these predictions, or get angry, defensive, or thin-skinned about them.

We are almost the most difficult team to predict this season given the terrible second half of the season, but a new manager untested at this level, and some good new signings. When you haven't got a clue, you tend to guess low.

Let everyone else just talk us down and assume we will get relegated, and then they might be in for a surprise. Kind of the opposite from last season when really only we who were actually watching the games as well as seeing the results knew we could be in real trouble.

 

[Hungry Joe]

Do people really get affronted by these predictions??

Wouldn't it be lovely to go and prove them all wrong?

Personally...

No...

and...

Yes

 

[symyjym]

We will finish above Burnley.

 

[Hastings gull]

I'm pretty sure every football prediction from pundits for the previous 2 seasons had us down to be relegated. Two seasons where we've never been in the relegation zone and I've concluded they don't know much

Yes, you have to take what they predict with a huge dose of salt. Last season I cut out in August what a well-known football magazine predicted what would be the outcome in all 4 top leagues and kept the predictions until May. Other than getting it right with "obvious" top 6 teams, their predictions were not at all accurate.

 

[Stat Brother]

From the oddschecker pundit:-

I really do fear for Crystal Palace (18th) this season, and they’re my (perhaps surprising) first choice for relegation.

I can see the major issue for Palace this season being goals. Of course, much depends on what happens regarding Wilfried Zaha, but with Jordan Ayew, Christian Benteke and Connor Whickham the only other attacking options, that can’t be anything other than concerning.

Why Palace signed Ayew permanently, considering he scored once in the Premier League over the whole of last season, is absolutely baffling.

Hodgson has overseen an absolutely atrocious pre-season—the lowlight being a 6-2 defeat against Barnet—and there are worries that his ideas are becoming a little outdated. So much so that he’s the joint-most likely manager to be axed first.

5/1 looks like very good value for Palace to go down, particularly after winning just five Premier League games at Selhurst last season, and if Zaha does go to Everton, that price will disappear in a heartbeat.

and his take on The Albion:-

Though everyone under the sun seems to be backing Brighton and Hove Albion (15th) for the drop, I’m a little more optimistic.

‘Be careful what you wish for’ seems to be the common trope, but Albion’s record last year was utterly abhorrent: two wins in 2019, including a run of six league matches without a single goal, surviving with a paltry 36 points, is simply not good enough. And the data showed it in uncompromising terms, something owner Tony Bloom is big on.

Chris Hughton is a club legend, but this was the right time for a change, and Graham Potter comes in with a brand new, exciting style of football. Potter did brilliantly with an asset-stripped Swansea side last year, and he’s ready to prove a few naysayers wrong.

Albion’s transfer business has been solid: winger Leandro Trossard joins with a big reputation from Genk, Adam Webster (arguably the best centre-back in the Championship last year) will line-up with Lewis Dunk and Shane Duffy in a back three, while the prolific Neal Maupay will spearhead the attack.

Brighton are being written off, but I wouldn’t sleep on them just yet.

 

[BN41Albion]

From the oddschecker pundit:-

I really do fear for Crystal Palace (18th) this season, and they’re my (perhaps surprising) first choice for relegation.

I can see the major issue for Palace this season being goals. Of course, much depends on what happens regarding Wilfried Zaha, but with Jordan Ayew, Christian Benteke and Connor Whickham the only other attacking options, that can’t be anything other than concerning.

Why Palace signed Ayew permanently, considering he scored once in the Premier League over the whole of last season, is absolutely baffling.

Hodgson has overseen an absolutely atrocious pre-season—the lowlight being a 6-2 defeat against Barnet—and there are worries that his ideas are becoming a little outdated. So much so that he’s the joint-most likely manager to be axed first.

5/1 looks like very good value for Palace to go down, particularly after winning just five Premier League games at Selhurst last season, and if Zaha does go to Everton, that price will disappear in a heartbeat.

and his take on The Albion:-

Though everyone under the sun seems to be backing Brighton and Hove Albion (15th) for the drop, I’m a little more optimistic.

‘Be careful what you wish for’ seems to be the common trope, but Albion’s record last year was utterly abhorrent: two wins in 2019, including a run of six league matches without a single goal, surviving with a paltry 36 points, is simply not good enough. And the data showed it in uncompromising terms, something owner Tony Bloom is big on.

Chris Hughton is a club legend, but this was the right time for a change, and Graham Potter comes in with a brand new, exciting style of football. Potter did brilliantly with an asset-stripped Swansea side last year, and he’s ready to prove a few naysayers wrong.

Albion’s transfer business has been solid: winger Leandro Trossard joins with a big reputation from Genk, Adam Webster (arguably the best centre-back in the Championship last year) will line-up with Lewis Dunk and Shane Duffy in a back three, while the prolific Neal Maupay will spearhead the attack.

Brighton are being written off, but I wouldn’t sleep on them just yet.

I like this guy